Trouble cutting 3/8” with Crossfire Pro and Primeweld Cut60 (Not solved yet)

CrossFire ® PRO
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Ok, so I think I may need a little bit of help here, folks.

I have NOT done the obvious things that have been suggested (uncoiling the work clamp lead, moving the plasma, etc), because right now I have a very repeatable situation of getting FireControl to freeze up ANYTIME I have a significant electrical draw on my system, and I would like to know if there’s anything I can do to remedy this situation, before I go through and implement best practices around EMI reduction, which * may * make the draw issue harder to diagnose.

Basically, I can run cuts all day long without FireControl freezing, so long as the the air compressor doesn’t kick on (not realistic as a strategy), or so long as my wife isn’t cranking the electric heater and the dryer, or so on and so forth.

With just the air compressor running, I can run quite a few cuts before FireControl freezes. The problem seems very intermittent with that amount of draw. With the dryer running, and the air compressor OFF, it’s kind of the same story.

BUT

FireControl will freeze every single time I try to make a cut with both the compressor AND the dryer ON, which is easy enough to avoid, but I would theorize that it will do the same with the air compressor and any other significant electrical draw, which might be a little harder to manage.

The garage and the house are separated just past the meter, and I have 200A coming into the meter. I believe my voltage drop tests in the garage indicated that there wasn’t really an issue with voltage drop.

Does this still fall under the umbrella of EMI, even though neither of these appliances are anywhere near the plasma table?

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I would say yes. You checked voltage drop. I would put the shop on a separate earth ground from the house and ground the table to it’s own earth ground

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Do you have the same voltage from the small prong opening on the recep to the ground opening as you do from the neutral prong?
The reason I ask is that you could have a bad neutral connection at the main panel. Lights dimming is a classic sign this exists.
My guess is the main service wire going to your sub panel is too small to carry the amperage. Over 100’ from main panel will require 1/0 alum or #1 copper.
Check for loose connections at the Sub and main panel sub panel circuit breaker. Please be careful…
Could also be a problem with the main service panel. Just cause its 200amp doesn’t mean you have 200 amps to go around.
IE: dryer, stove, dishwasher, lights, washer etc.
And your sub panel wanting 80 or 90 amps.
It all adds up fast. Again please be careful.
You may need a qualified electrician to check this out.

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And to add to what @Bigdaddy2166 said could also have a problem with the incoming service to the meter on the power company side and not getting full amperage. If in doubt i would get an electrician to check it out and possibly contact power company as well so they can check their side to eliminate that as an issue as well.

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@Bigdaddy2166 The receptacle is measuring 118.7V to neutral and 119.1V to ground. Is that enough of a variance to indicate a problem? The garage was built in 2016, and all the receptacles are run in 12/3 romex.

@Phillipw The garage is on a separate ground rod, and I will go ahead with grounding the table.

@Bigdaddy2166 I was incorrect that the garage service is 100A. It is a 100A sub-panel, but it is being fed by a 60A breaker on #4 aluminum XHHW at roughly 70’. All connections look tight, but the breaker at the main panel does feel a little bit spongey.

It sounds like I need more power to the garage. but with the ground frozen and no money coming in yet, I’m going to have to wait to do that.

Is there a strategy to work with what I have for the time being? Try and pause programs when the compressor kicks on, I guess? Make sure my wife is running things minimally inside the house?

I am not popping the garage sub-panel’s breaker, but with plasma, compressor, and lights running, I am probably right at the limit.

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Rural Northern Nevada, @Dobber. We can barely get them to keep the power on out here. But yeah, that sounds like it’s worth looking in to, as well.

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Number 4 is good for 70amps. I still think you have a panel problem. Your sub panel should not have a ground rod. It should be using the main panel ground system. The neutral buss bar should be separated from ground buss. Sounds like you need an electrican.

Another note… You can’t use that ground rod.
Your earth ground has to be stand alone.
Now if you get someone to fix your sub panel grounding problem. You can disconnect it and use it then.

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By the way. I was a project manager at a cryogenic plant in Elko Nevada about 30 years ago. It was a silver mine I think?
Rural isn’t the word for it…

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There’s a good chance I’m using the wrong terminology, @Bigdaddy2166. I’m going to send you a message.

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Yes a second earth ground my garage box has one and the panel has to be setup correctly also.

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One more potential issue I found. I went out and bought a brand new Asus laptop to run FireControl on; it was actually recommended on the Langmuir Facebook group. Oh that group…

Anyway, I guess Langmuir states right on their website:

https://www.langmuirsystems.com/firecontrol/guide

…that you need a minimum of a 1.6GHZ processor to run FireControl.

Well, the brand new ASUS is only a 1.1GHZ processor. I thought I had heard that a lot of folks were running on old laptops, and laptops bought at garage sales, and that any new one would work. And I never saw the link where they tell you about minimum requirements.

So, that’s a thing. Maybe this post will help someone…

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Do you have another or a desktop to test this one out?

I started out with a older win 7. Not even sure the specs.

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The old age battle of computers and what is recommended, most recommendations are the minimum. Alwsys better to go above and beyond. All relates to performance. Minimum is just the slow horse while above and beyond is like a sports car. And everyone will have different results just because of variables experienced with all the different things being cut. At the end of rhe day amazing how much affects cutting a piece of metal.

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What I’m finding from searching Best Buy is that 1.6GHZ is a pretty fancy piece of equipment, @Dobber. Completely rules out all of the entry level (re. “Cheap”) laptops.

I know a lot of people are running successfully on less, but I don’t seem to be one of the lucky ones, in regard to any of this stuff. But I think I’m going to try some other things first.

Hey, public THANK YOU to John @Bigdaddy2166 for taking 20 minutes on the phone to explain all of this electrical stuff to me this morning! Thanks John!

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I’m running my table with a Beelink mini PC that has a processor that’s over 2ghz and 8gigs of RAM. I have that mated to a 15" Asus touch screen monitor and a Bluetooth keyboard. All in, it cost me around $400. That way I can keep my $1500 gaming laptop in the house, where it’s safe from metal dust.

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It’s all relative, I guess, David @ds690. My laptop was $149.99, and was touted by the FB group as cheap enough to throw away when it gets dust fouled. First computer I’ve purchased in 18 years. When I said I wasn’t a computer guy, I wasn’t lying. :blush:

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Wow cant expect much for that amount of Money!!!

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Well, it was $399.99 on sale for $250 off, but, yes, I agree with you, @Knick.

BUT, back to expectation vs reality, YouTube is full of people talking about Langmuir’s Crossfire Pro, saying they’re running on a $400 Amazon Plasma, $50 garage sale computer, and a 30 gallon compressor.

It’s ONLY $2749 and you can save $100 with their affiliate code!

I’m over $5,000 in and figured I was crossing and dotting a whole lotta i’s and t’s with my “fancy” Primeweld machine, brand new computer from Best Buy, and top of the line Motorguard 3 stage air drying setup.

Once I re-wire my entire shop and buy another $500 laptop, I should…maybe…almost, finally be there.

But at least my air is dry. :blush:

Unless of course the Primeweld Cut60 does wind up being the cause of all my issues. :rofl:

I get people commenting on my YouTube every single day saying “I can’t believe this table is only $2,749! I’m going to buy one today!”

I just smile and nod. They have NO IDEA what they’re getting in to.

And I’m not blaming Langmuir Systems. I just think there are probably a fair number of folks, like myself, who are getting into this system and thinking they’re going to be generating income from a ~$4,000 total investment, and that’s just not accurate.

And I thought I did my research.

Oh, and the 12” version of this laptop was only $99.99. I spent the extra $50 on the 14” version because my eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be. To me, it’s funny that it can run Fusion 360 just fine, but not FireControl. But like I said, I’m not a computer guy…

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I don’t want to seem like I’m just B&M’ing (crying) to hear my own voice, guys. I’m just trying to bring some value to my own tribulations by laying it all out there for anybody who’s having similar issues, and who also has the patience to read through ~340 posts.

FWIW, I think the 1.6GHZ minimum requirement was new for 21.1.5; it seems the people running older computers are all on 20.6.

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I agree a lot of people don’t do research thinking buy one and done… by the time I did all my mods added a powder coating system I am in 12k…! But I have 2 plasma cutters.

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